Sponsor

Sponsor

Target revenue metric misses forecasts for May

Target Corp. said Thursday that its May
revenue at stores open at least a year climbed 2.8 percent, but
shoppers remained cautious and the figure fell short of Wall
Street's forecast.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters anticipated a 3.5 percent
increase in the figure, on average. The metric rose 1.3 percent in
May 2010.

The comparison is important because it excludes stores that
recently opened or closed.

Chairman, President and CEO Gregg Steinhafel said in a statement
that customer traffic slowed during the second half of the month.
He said higher gas prices and other inflationary pressures crimped
customer spending and slowed growth more than Target expected.

The chain also said last month that gas and food price hikes
made shoppers more cautious during the first quarter.

Target's total revenue for the four weeks that ended May 28 rose
3.8 percent to $4.8 billion.

The company said in a prerecorded message Thursday that grocery
and clothing sales rose, but revenue from home goods and items like
electronics, toys and health and beauty products fell.

For the year so far, Target's revenue at stores open at least a
year has increased 2.2 percent and total revenue has risen 3
percent to $20.38 billion.

Target anticipates June revenue at stores open at least a year
will rise by a low- to mid-single-digit percentage.

Last month Target said its first-quarter net income climbed 2.7
percent, compared with a year earlier, as expenses fell in its
credit card business.